Critics of the move of course charge that Israel's decision to apply financial pressure on a Hamas-led PA is somehow an attack on Palestinian democracy. (You would be hard pressed, however, to find a single one of these critics who just dandy with the idea of Israel pressuring a Fatah-led Palestinian kleptocracy). Thus we have the first demonstration of the newly minted - 48% of the Palestinian popular vote vitiates all need for Hamas to act as a responsible state actor.
The biggest problem with Israel's move is that the Israeli government, par for the course, has failed to adequately articulate why it is withholding the money.
"It is clear that in the light of the Hamas majority in the parliament and the instructions to form a new government that were given to the head of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority is in practice becoming a terrorist authority," Ehud Olmert, the acting prime minister, told his cabinet. "The state of Israel will not agree to this."
Its not clear from Olmert's statement, however, what exactly Israel wants to pressure Hamas to do. Revise its charter to remove passages calling for the elimination of Israel? Agree to abide by "existing peace agreements"? We've been down this road already before with Fatah during Oslo. Changing charters and pretty statements delivered in English are meaningless. Israel should be focusing first and foremost on what Hamas does. What Israel should announce is that any month a Kassam rocket is fired from Gaza into Israel or a sucide bomber murders Israeli civilians, the PA forfeits its customs revenue. Israel should adamently refuse to go down the path it did with Fatah - in which Fatah's excuses that it was "too weak" to stop terror attacks were taken (at least publicly) at face value. Fatah, at least could fall back on its universal record of incompetence in every other area of administering Palestinian life in support of its claims of trying, but failing to corral terror. Hamas may be fundamentalist and brutal, but as all the analysts of the Palestinian elections have told us, at least they're competant.
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